Why settle for Mothra when you can have Godzilla? Mothra, the fictional Godzilla monster’s nemesis, in this case is the typical high-performance SUV that filmmakers often use as camera cars. In the movies, Mothra lost out to Godzilla—and it’s happened all over again: Nissan skipped the usual Porsche Cayenne-based camera rig for a GT-R, its sports car that goes by the nickname “Godzilla,” in order to film . . . another GT-R.
Apparently, Nissan needed something similar or equal to the 600-hp GT-R NISMO in order to keep up with said GT-R NISMO to capture it lapping the Lausitzring in Germany. Nissan put professional stunt driver Mauro Calo behind the wheel of the camera-rig GT-R and had him play a nice game of cat-and-mouse with the beastly 2020 GT-R NISMO. Are the two cars perfect equals? No. Blame the extra weight of the camera equipment the camera GT-R has to haul around, as well as the additional bodies assigned to operate the camera gimbal, the focus puller, and choreograph the on-track dance from within the car’s cabin. The GT-R’s small rear seats actually are used when conducting high-speed filming.
Still, the camera-rig GT-R is no slouch thanks to the plentiful power of its twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-6 engine, quick-reacting all-wheel-drive system, relatively low center of gravity, and sticky tires. It’s the perfect camera car, it turns out, for chasing down another GT-R, NISMO or otherwise. Plus, it gave Nissan an excuse to publicize its aging, but still potent, sports coupe—after all, Nissan didn’t really need to build the thing in order to film the GT-R NISMO. But we sure are glad it did.
